Notable Residents:

Overview

Like Earth, Damastion is a class zero planet. It is considered to be a paradise world, and is said to eventually draw in the most affluent and influential citizens from across the Imperial Combine as they edge towards retirement.

Damastion was settled early in humanity's conquest of the Orion Arm, and as such it is highly developed in terms of its social structure. Buildings, infrastructure, financial relationships, and family connections have had centuries in which to become well-established.

Damastion is a terrestrial or "rocky" planet. Of the two rocky planets orbiting its star, Axicon, Damastion has the highest density and surface gravity. The rocky surface of the planet is a thin crust with relatively low density, essentially floating on a denser semi-liquid mantle.

A strong magnetic field deflects a significant amount of harmful stellar radiation. Also, around 69% of the surface of the planet is covered by water, an organic solvent. Both of these attributes contributed significantly to the emergence of life on the planet.

Damastion has a wide range of environments mirroring its climate zones and geological areas. Around the equatorial band, rainforests fringe small deserts. Huge temperate zones reach almost to the polar regions, punctuated by forests, grasslands, and mountain ranges. There are two major oceans (one of which covers a quarter of the planet), and many seas. Both polar caps are mostly shelved continental ice, with less than a tenth of their ice masses floating on water.

The biosphere on Damastion is rich and diverse, representing almost all of the known kingdoms of life found on Earth. The planet is also host to non-cellular life, principally millions of types of virus and a number of dangerous prions.

No organisms have yet been found on Damastion which do not correspond to a known kingdom. Judging by the geological and biological history of the planet, its origins and early development appear to have been so similar to Earth's that convergent organic evolution was inevitable. Even the soil on Damastion is, compositionally speaking, almost identical to its terrestrial counterpart. On the Caden estate, in 3719 ELC, the young Elm Caden played under a large oak tree imported from Earth, suggesting that Terran plant species can be transplanted to Damastion with relative ease (→SFTD).

Organisms which are specifically noted as existing on Damastion are an estuary-dwelling flightless bird, fist-sized beetles, a type of migratory coastal goose, and a dangerous aquatic predator which dwells in fresh water. There is also a native shrub with twisting, looping branches, and wide, rubbery leaves (→SFTD).

Cities

As a rule, Damastion society frowns on over-commercialisation, and heavy industry is banned outright from the surface. Most electronics and other hardware are imported. Cities on Damastion are a necessary evil, and most citizens prefer to live with the appeal of small rural towns, or — funds allowing — the tranquillity of a country estate.

Galloi

Galloi is the capital of Damastion, and it is the only truly large conurbation on the planet. It is busy at all times of the year, hosts the planet's only starport, and is the location of the Eastern District School of Galloi, where Elm Caden received his primary education.

Facilities

For such a rich and highly-developed planet, Damastion has few technological facilities. This is exactly how its inhabitants like things.

The planet boasts a single starport, a prime gate, a nexus, and orbital defence platforms.

Like Earth, Damastion also has a defence system called Fracture Barriers. These are capable of preventing any unauthorised ships from entering the space local to the planet, and when raised can only be traversed by a specially invoked wormhole. The barriers are controlled from the planetary defence command station in Galloi (→FSS).

Recorded Events

On 11th October 3719 ELC, Elm Caden first experienced the manifestation he would later call The Emptiness. This occurred when he was a child, playing in the grounds of the estate his family called Svelengarth (→SFTD).

The child Elm Caden was at school in Galloi, on 4th November 3722, when he learned of his father Modim's death (→SFTD).

Lau Caden — brother of Elm — was born in Galloi on 19th May 3723, just six months after their father perished in the Perseus conflict.

​Damastion is so renowned for its natural beauty that it is the subject of at least one popular song sung on Earth (→TRD).

In mid-3745 Shaeld Hrathan dreadships began to amass in the Axicon system, picketing the periphery of Damastion's fracture barriers. A stolen Hakuri Systems transport ship was used by Rasas to breach the barriers. As a result, fighting soon broke out on the surface. Events continued to spiral out of control, culminating in the Siege of Damastion (→FSS).